challenge · online

Ready, Set...ID the Biothreat Prize Challenge

When it actually closes

Safe cutoff

DHS challenge page

Stated: “10/14/2026 1200 EDT”
Printed zone: EDT
IANA zone: America/New_York
UTC: 2026-10-14T16:00:00Z
Your time: Wed Oct 14, 4:00 PM UTC (loading your time zone…)

Prizes

$999,990 cash · 16 slots

Every amount is "up to." Stage 1 (written proposal): up to 10 finalists, up to $10,000 each ($100,000 max). Stage 2 (working prototype tested on DHS-provided metagenomic datasets): picked from the Stage 1 finalists, up to 3 finalists, up to $75,000 each ($225,000 max). Stage 3 (final blinded validation): picked from the Stage 2 finalists, 1 Grand Prize up to $450,000, 1 Runner-up up to $150,000, and 1 or more Honorable Mentions up to $74,990 in total. Maximum total: $999,990.

Stage 1 finalist (up to 10)
cash · ×10
$10,000
Amount is a maximum ("up to"); DHS may award less or pick fewer finalists
Stage 2 finalist (up to 3)
cash · ×3
$75,000
Picked from Stage 1 finalists; amount is a maximum; stacks on the Stage 1 award
Stage 3 Grand Prize
cash
$450,000
Amount is a maximum; stacks on Stage 1 + Stage 2 awards
Stage 3 Runner-up
cash
$150,000
Amount is a maximum; stacks on Stage 1 + Stage 2 awards
Stage 3 Honorable Mention(s)
cash
$74,990
"One or more" mentions split this combined pool of up to $74,990; shown here as a single minimum slot

Eligibility

Individuals: eligible

open to all individuals (non-felons) over the age of 18 who are U.S. Citizens or legal permanent residents at the time of submission

Checked for one adult entering alone from Nevada, USA. Rules can differ by country, so read the rule quoted here for where you live.

Entry cost

Free to enter

Payout

bank

DHS pays cash prizes by electronic funds transfer only. Finalists and winners must register in SAM.gov within 30 days of being notified (registration is not needed to submit) and provide a taxpayer ID and bank account details within 30 days, or they are disqualified.

Rights — what you give up

entrant-keeps

Contestants keep ownership of their existing IP and are not required to transfer it without written consent. However, Prize Winners must grant DHS "a worldwide, non-exclusive, sub-licensable, transferable, fully paid-up, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license to use the software prototype."

Gotchas

This is a deep-domain metagenomics and biosurveillance task (detecting engineered or novel sequences in environmental metagenomic data), and it is pitched at industry, labs and academics.
Being a Stage 1 finalist commits you to Stage 2: accepting the Stage 1 prize means agreeing to build a working prototype from November 2026 to January 20, 2027, then possibly Stage 3 through June 9, 2027 (blinded datasets, logs, documentation, final presentation).
All amounts are 'up to', so DHS may award less than $10,000 per Stage 1 finalist or pick fewer than 10 finalists.
The page contradicts itself on the total: '$990,990' in one line versus $999,990 everywhere else. The parts add up to $999,990.